Ranger Diary Blog

Good day and welcome to Kololo’s Ranger Diaries Blog, where the rangers of Kololo will share with you some of their best stories (Lions hunting, Elephants fighting), sightings (porcupine, aardvark) and interesting things that we have discovered on a regular basis…

For fun and adventure make sure you log on to Kololo’s Ranger Diaries on a regular basis. These are the Kololo rangers:

Paul Griffin

Prince Makgai

The rangers of Kololo are South Africans, therefore the ranger diaries will be published in English.

Touch, listen and smell

There is so much more to the bush than chasing after the big five. There are many trees, birds, insects and other interesting things to enjoy. When you work in nature, you’re senses become more developed. You can hear a Jackal calling over the sound of your vehicles engine, spot movement from far away, and can tell summer is here by smelling flowers before it’s even seen.

The Spotted Hyena

Although very seldom seen in Welgevonden we do in fact have spotted hyenas. I have had the privilege of seeing these animals on only two different occasions in my time in Welgevonden. The spotted hyena have this scary and ugly reputation which I personally think comes from the very popular Disney film, The Lion king. This is however far from the truth. They are in fact the misunderstood cleanup crew of the bush.

Kololo's eco-system

In this entry I’d love to chat about Kololo’s natural eco system. On game drive, we are often asked about the balance of the animals in Kololo, since there are no big predators in the vicinity. This is why I would like to go a little in-depth on how an eco-system works.

Yes I know no lions will play a big factor into the cycle of bigger game balance but what people don’t see as often are the smaller creatures living out here. Smaller cats, Porcupines, Honey badgers, Monkeys, Vultures, the flies and maggots all play a vital role. There are so many different organisms and creatures that would factor into a great working ecosystem.

The First Photograph

With the friends of Kololo photographic competition on the way, I could not help but share some of my favourite photos taken the last view weeks.When I started in the hospitality industry ten years ago, I had a very small camera that could fit in my shirt pocket. It was easy to handle and took good enough photos. However, after a couple of months in the African bush, I realized the big amount of photo opportunities I had and quickly decided to invest in something better. I so do enjoy taking photos, and love sharing them. Kololo and Welgevonden game reserve has such a big variety of bird and animal life, that my memory stick is constantly full.

Big 5 encounters

Sitting in a game viewer in a big 5 area with lions, elephants and other potentially dangerous animals just feet away from the vehicle, questions could run through your mind. “Does this lion know that I’m so close to him”? It sure has gone through mine once or twice. The fact of the matter is, that they can’t reason that there are possibly humans on these game viewers.